Patricia Moyes Analysis

Contribution

Patricia Moyes wrote her first novel, Dead Men Don’t Ski (1959), on a whim, and she never looked back. She produced a long series with her first novel’s main characters, Scotland Yard detective Henry Tibbett and his wife, Emmy, portraying Henry’s ability to solve crimes through analysis and intuition rather than through violence or typical police procedures. Her books were both critical and popular successes, praised for their intricate plots, their warmth and optimism, and their attention to detail.

Moyes’s novels are peopled with complex characters who stand out from the one-dimensional figures in many mysteries. Even her villains are driven by complicated motives, and Tibbett is sometimes faced with moral ambiguity where he expected certainty. Important contributions of Moyes were the creation of dignified and respected gay and black characters at a time when to do so was rare and her subtle demonstration, through Henry’s and Emmy’s kindness and insight, that empathy can bring different people together.

Moyes’s novels occupy a distinct place in the chronology of mystery and detective stories. She created one of the last great series of cozy detective novels, getting through the entire series without blood or sex on stage. Emmy Tibbett is also one of the last main characters to be a full-time homemaker, although one whose intelligence and bravery are undeniable. Later writers, including Susan Wittig Albert and Diane Mott Davidson, would feature happy couples and relatively bloodless imagery, but their female protagonists would play a more modern role in their domestic lives and in solving crimes.

Moyes’s novels consistently sold well (although she was more popular in the United States than in Great Britain). She won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1971 for Many Deadly Returns (1970). She also received the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999.

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Bibliography

Boucher, Anthony. Introduction to Murder by Threes, by Patricia Moyes. New York: Holt, 1965. In this introduction to a collection of three of Moyes’s novels, Boucher places her among the great British mystery writers of her time.

Boxer, Sarah. “Patricia Moyes, 77, Writer Who Created Sleuthing Pair.” The New York Times, August 11, 2000, p. B9. An obituary and appreciation.

Dubose, Martha Hailey. Women of Mystery: The Lives and Works of Notable Women Crime Novelists. New York: St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2000. A look at female mystery writers from Mary Roberts Rinehart to cozy writers such as Agatha Christie to modern writers such as Sue Grafton. Gives a sense of Moyes’s place among her contemporaries although it does not specifically mention her.

Dunbar, Jill, and Catherine Sapinsky. “Nancy Drew for Grown-Ups.” Ms. 13 (April, 1985): 101-102. An appreciation for the contributions of female mystery writers whose detectives rely on brains rather than violence. The authors include Moyes among the “contemporary traditionalists.”

Mahoney, MaryKay. “Patricia Moyes.” In Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary, edited by Kathleen Gregory Klein. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994. An analysis of Moyes’s ability to create vivid characters and locales, and comparisons of her work to that of other female mystery writers.

Scherer, Ron. “Tracking Down a Mystery Writer in the Caribbean.” Christian Science Monitor, February 24, 1987, p. 25. Scherer, an avid sailor and a fan of Moyes’s mysteries, tours Virgin Gorda with the writer as his guide.